March 01, 2021

International Women’s Day – Celebrating Filmmakers that #ChooseToChallenge

Trailblazing women are changing audience perceptions around the world with films and series that inspire as they entertain.

March 8th is International Women’s Day. This year, the official theme of the day focuses on challenging and calling out gender bias, inequality and stereotypes with the campaign hashtag #ChooseToChallenge.

In celebration of International Women’s Day, we have picked a selection of Technicolor Post projects made by and starring trailblazing women who are changing audience perceptions around the world with films and television series that entertain and inspire.

From challenge comes change, so let’s all choose to challenge!

Trigonometry

Trigonometry is a polyamorous love story about a cash strapped London couple who open their small apartment to a third person. Somehow, the new addition makes the flat seem bigger, not smaller. Gradually, many things become easier, nicer, better with an extra pair of hands. Directed by feature film Director/Producer Athina Rachel Tsangari and BAFTA nominated breakthrough Brit Stella Corradi, the duo created an intimate world full of subtlety and beauty in every frame.

VFX by Technicolor VFX
Color by Jodie M. Davidson
Sound Mix by James Drake

Available on BBC iPlayer and HBO Max

Grace and Frankie

Grace and Frankie follows the story of Grace Hanson (played by Jane Fonda) and Frankie Bergstein (Lily Tomlin), two unlikely friends who are brought together after their husbands announce they are in love with each other and plan to marry. With older women being underrepresented in Hollywood, the series is groundbreaking, depicting women in their 70s living full lives, drinking, dealing with grief, and having sex.

Color by Roy Vasich
Sound by Walt Bost, Vicki Lemar, and Ken Kobett
Sound Mix by Technicolor Sound

Available on Netflix

Mrs. America

Mrs. America tells the true story of the movement to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment, and the unexpected backlash led by a conservative woman named Phyllis Schlafly, played by Cate Blanchett. Through the eyes of the women of that era — both Schlafly and second-wave feminists Gloria Steinem, Betty Friedan, Shirley Chisholm, Bella Abzug and Jill Ruckelshaus — the series explores how one of the toughest battlegrounds in the culture wars of the ’70s helped give rise to the Moral Majority and forever shifted our political landscape.

Dailies Color by Kurt Reid
VFX by Technicolor VFX

Available on BBC iPlayer and HBO Max

The Souvenir

Julie (Honor Swinton Byrne), a film student, falls in love with a charismatic man. However, when she realizes that he is an emotionally unstable heroin addict, her life turns upside down. From acclaimed writer-director Joanna Hogg comes an enigmatic and personal portrait of the artist as a young woman, combining passionate emotions and exquisite aesthetics into a lush, dreamlike story of young adulthood and first love. At once enrapturing and mysteriously unsettling – and featuring a profoundly layered breakout performance by Swinton Byrne – The Souvenir is an essential and enduring film from one of the most distinctive and exciting filmmakers.

Color by Jodie M. Davidson

Available on Amazon Prime

Dead to Me

Created by Liz Feldman and starring Christina Applegate and Linda Cardellini, Dead to Me follows the friendship that forms between two grieving women, Jen and Judy. The two face their struggles differently, as Jen finds herself in a dark place and Judy maintains a positive disposition. The series has received countless accolades and has been nominated for multiple Emmys, including ‘Outstanding Comedy Series’ and ‘Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series’ for both lead actresses. It has been renewed for a highly-anticipated third season.

Color by Tim Vincent
VFX by Technicolor VFX

Available on Netflix

The Breadwinner

The Breadwinner is an inspiring animated adaption of Deborah Ellis’ acclaimed young-adult novel about Paravana, a young girl in Afghanistan who steps up – by disguising herself as a boy – to provide for her family after the Taliban raids her home and arrests her father. For Technicolor Toronto, it was an opportunity to tell an important story working with Director Nora Twomey of Irish animation studio Cartoon Saloon, and Toronto’s Aircraft Pictures. In addition to its success at the Toronto International Film Festival, The Breadwinner was the Grand Prize Winner at the inaugural Animation Is Film Festival at the TCL Chinese Theatre in Hollywood, where it also took home the Audience Award. Executive producer Angelina Jolie introduced the film for its U.S. premiere, calling it “exquisitely done and very important.”

Color by Brett Trider
Sound Mix by Frank Morrone and J.R. Fountain

Available on Netflix

Sweetheart

Marley Morrison’s knockout debut feature is a sharply observed coming-of-age story that will make you wince and laugh in painful recognition of universal truths. Seventeen-year-old AJ (Nell Barlow) is not one of life’s shiny, happy people. A family holiday at a caravan park in Dorset is her idea of hell. A moody misfit, she dresses for concealment and lets everyone know that she would rather be anywhere else. Then she spies flirty, free-spirited lifeguard Isla (Ella-Rae Smith) who might just be the girl of her dreams. The film premieres at Glasgow Film Festival in March and recently featured at the BFI Flare LGBTQ+ Festival.

Color by Sam Chynoweth

Captain Marvel

Directed by Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck, Captain Marvel is the first MCU movie with a solo female lead. Carol Danvers aka Captain Marvel (played by Brie Larson) becomes one of the universe's most powerful heroes when Earth is caught in the middle of a galactic war between two alien races. The movie boasted over 1 billion dollars in ticket sales at the worldwide box office and has spawned a sequel, Captain Marvel 2, which is currently in development with a slated 2022 release date.

Color supervised by Doug Delaney

Available on Disney+